Concerned families ask Brevard Public Schools to preserve Ronald McNair Magnet Middle School

This afternoon, Brevard Public Schools officials told us they aren’t currently considering any school closures.

But that didn’t stop a group of concerned parents, students, and community leaders from meeting at Zion Orthodox Primitive Baptist Church in Cocoa last night to ask the district not to close Ronald McNair Magnet Middle School.

Student Kaitlin Cooper told us, “We don’t want it to close because It’s like a peaceful place. And if you get rid of that I feel like it’s going be a different type of neighborhood. The environment will feel empty.”

This fall, Brevard Public Schools launched a long-term planning project looking at facilities, enrollment, and ways to be more efficient. The district also found that multiple middle schools, including McNair, had under 60% enrollment in the past school year.

But, school board member Megan Wright emphasized, “We have not made any decisions to close any schools, and honestly, I’m of the mindset, like, let’s find a way to drive up enrollment, Let’s figure out different. Options that we can have and work alongside the community to make sure we keep all the schools open.“

This afternoon, during a board workshop, district staff presented “Strategic Facilities Plan Concepts,” which included kindergarten through 8th-grade clusters, grade 7th-12th conversions, and even boundary adjustments along with some other strategies.

Wright added, “We do not want to close schools. We want to find ways to drive enrollment to be the best option for parents to enroll their students in our schools. And that’s really what we’re working towards.”

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